Honolulu Cafe 檀島咖啡餅店

The Singapore outpost of Hong Kong’s famous cha chaan teng (Hong Kong-style cafe) most well-known for their traditional egg tarts, polo buns (“pineapple” buns) and Hong Kong milk tea. Honolulu’s Egg Tarts ($1.80) comes in a 192-layers flaky, buttery pastry shell filled with soft, wobbly egg custard, while the Pineapple Bun ($2) consists of a wedge of salted butter between soft, buttery buns with its signature sweet, crusty top. The egg tarts are churned out in fresh batches daily at specific time, look out for their schedule on the signboards at the respective outlets.

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Two months later and after several bad reviews, the crowds have died down and their egg tarts are now available for takeaway again. I went there a couple of weeks ago for a mid-week dinner to try some of their Hong Kong-style western comfort food … Unfortunately for us they had sold out of egg tarts just before we arrived so we didn’t get to have any that day but as Centrepoint is quite near my flat I managed to go there the other day to get some for takeaway… They were probably some of the best egg tarts I’ve had so far in Singapore, the egg custard was sweet with a good consistency but what makes these egg tarts so great is the flaky, buttery pastry … The food is very average, it’s cheap but I don’t think the place would survive if it wasn’t for their egg tarts… Read full review. +-

No trip to Honolulu Cafe is complete without trying their signature Honolulu Egg Tart… Although I can’t tell if there are really 192 layers in the pastry, the buttery flaky pastry compliments the creamy and smooth egg custard perfectly. Some people may like that the egg custard is not too sweet, but for someone who likes sweet food like me, the custard is just a little bland. Another of Hononlulu Cafe’s bestselling item is Honolulu Pineapple Bun with Butter… Served with a slab of butter, it is undoubtedly one of the most popular snacks in Hong Kong. I like the sweet crunchy bun itself but the addition of the unsalted butter does nothing to elevate its taste, only giving it a greasy aftertaste. Read full review. –

The egg tarts were baked in very small batches! We were also the unfortunate ones who got some from the previous batch, but the staff did not want to serve them to us first, and we only got our egg tarts after the next batch was done. In our mix of freshly baked and less freshly baked, our verdict was that while the egg tarts were not bad, it was really not worth the queue and the wait. It was more crumbly than flakey; the egg custard was quite smooth, but somehow, it was missing the wow factor … Being a fairly new cafe, we guessed the workflow really needed some tweaking. Read full review. –

Honolulu’s egg tart has a flaky pastry crust paired with an wobbly egg custard on the inside. An overnight frozen dough folded into 192 layers is being used for the crust, which I found too thick and bland for my liking. However, the egg custard was perfectly creamy, curdy yet molten and very addictive. Such a waste that the crust is lacking … The bo luo bun was pretty average and I wished that the crust could be thicker for an added layer of fragrance! The deep fried egg puff was way too greasy and I couldn’t take a second bite of it … From all the drinks that we’ve tried, my favorite is definitely the hot milk tea! While I found the milk tea to be rather fragrant, there were mixed reviews from my friends who found it sour, perhaps from the selection of tea leaves. The coffee, on the other hand, was definitely acidic … There were some hits and misses for my experience here at Honolulu Cafe Singapore which I think requires some fine tuning… Read full review. +-

Honolulu Egg Tarts is probably the flakiest egg tart you will ever come across in Singapore. Made by freezing the dough overnight to fold 192 layers, the egg tart is exceedingly crispy and is pleasing to your taste buds. However, it would probably taste better if served warm. Nonetheless, these limited baked-daily egg tarts are worth queuing up for … The Swiss Sauce Chicken Wings were absolutely divine. Tender and juicy, it was a perfect affair. Most Swiss Sauce Chicken Wings also usually turn out too salty for my liking, but Honolulu’s was just right … The Milk Tea was creamy but slightly sour and I’m not sure if that is an intentional effect. To some, this may be favorable and to others, it may not. Taste is after all subjective. I personally liked it because I never like overly sweet Milk Teas. Read full review. +

The (Honolulu Cafe Signature) coffee was very promptly served, but sadly not as hot as we expected it to be. Perhaps it had been prepared in advance to manage waiting time. Although it was said that the shifu from Hong Kong would be present these few weeks to ensure quality control, the coffee seemed to taste lacklustre. It didn’t have that same rich milky taste that we enjoyed in the coffees we drank in the cha chaan tengs in Hong Kong. Read full review. –

..when it comes to disappointing Milk Tea, Coffee and Yuan Yang which all tasted a tad sourish for our liking. The hot versions seemed to be generally more diluted than the cold ones. Fortunately, the delicious Egg Tarts were there to save the day. We love how crispy and flaky the shell was… Coupled that with soft and velvety smooth custard, the flavors and contrasting textures undoubtedly made the egg tart a winner … We were not too fond of the Deep-fried Egg Puff and Pineapple Bun with Butter, especially the latter as it was dry and could be fluffier in texture … Could it be opening jitters? We had expected better execution of some of the signature items. Read full review. +-

Our food experience began from their highly recommended Honolulu Egg Tart which we found was a little overhyped. The dough of these egg tarts are frozen overnight and folded into 192 layers to achieve a crispy and flaky shell. We liked the strong buttery fragrance of the pastry but the custard was not creamy enough … How do you like your milk tea? We prefer ours to be sweet, with an overpowering condense milk aftertaste but the milk tea here was a huge disappointment. To be honest, we aren’t certain whether it tasted bitter or sourish. The Yuan Yang fared much better. It was quite thick and fragrant, just the way we like it. We would say it’s decent and wallet friendly menu but perhaps, they are still working on improving the standards of their food and drinks. Read full review. –

The signature Honolulu Egg Tart is known for its 192 layers of flaky pastry, crumbly, with wobbly eggy fillings. Frankly, the Egg Tart was not too bad – we liked the crumbly crust which reminded us of cereal. However, during another anonymous visit, it was unfortunate that the tarts were served chipped and dry… Comparisons to Tai Cheong is inevitable. Let’s just say Tai Cheong has an eggy butter crust, while Honolulu’s is flakey … On the other hand, we didn’t quite like the Polo Bun with Butter, somehow not as impressive as the ones in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong version had a complete upper crust with more bite. Read full review. –